As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave birth to you.” Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:27-28 (NIV)

His First Sermon

I was once told of a preacher who had recently been hired as the pastor for a church. The congregation was excited to hear his first sermon, and everyone loved it. The line going out of the sanctuary was slow moving that Sunday as everyone in the congregation had to express their appreciation for such a fine sermon.

The next week, even more people filed into the church, only to hear the preacher give the exact same sermon. This time, the line at the end of the service moved faster as only the newcomers stopped to praise the preacher for his excellent sermon. The deacons all came together in the parking lot to discuss this, and they all agreed it was most likely just a one-time thing, and that the new pastor likely was too busy moving in to write another sermon.

The third week came and everyone gathered to hear the pastor preach the exact same sermon for a third time. This resulted in an immediate meeting between the deacons and the pastor after the service. They expressed their concern, and made it clear that they expected to hear a different sermon the following week.
The pastor told them he had not made a mistake, and had more than enough time to write a new sermon. However, he was waiting to give them a new sermon until after they demonstrated that they heard and put into practice the biblical principles from this sermon.

Nice sermon, Pastor.

Don’t get me wrong. When I smile, and say thank you, I really mean it. I am glad that a sermon was heard and appreciated, and even possibly taken to heart. I, like other pastors I know, have a sincere desire to rightly divide the word of God, and to teach and proclaim the word of God to all those in our charge. But what is more important, is that the people of God would hear, understand, and put into action the word of God in their daily lives.

Sermons are not intended to tickle the ear. That is to say, pastors who truly love God and hold their divine appointments with righteous fear don’t give sermons to make their congregants feel good, or happy, or proud, or vindicated. I think the most poignant feelings to have from a good, nice, or powerful sermon would be fear, shame, awe, love, thankfulness, freedom, joy, hope. And even better than having those feelings is when those feelings lead to action that stems from growth in the faith, joy, and love of the of the hearer. 

As a human, I like to receive affirmations. As a pastor, the best affirmations are those that come in the form of testimonies of God’s glory in their lives.

• “Last week, I was able to forgive my aunt.”
• “Thursday, my friend told me of an issue in his life, and I told him how God is there for him, and he listened and asked me to pray for him.”
• “I read my Bible every day last week, and by the end of the week it felt less like reading and more like a conversation.”
• “I was praying on my way to work about my coworker, and I had a feeling that God would take care of everything. When I got to work, I wasn’t stressed. I was calm.”

Blessed is the Mother

When the woman told Jesus, blessed is your mother, she was saying, ‘that was a great sermon.’

Of course, the difference between what I expressed above and what is written in Luke 11:27-28 is vast. I am just a servant trying my best to teach and preach the word of God, whereas Jesus is the Word (John 1:1). The similarity here is the woman heard something she correctly identified as meaningful and even powerful. Like when someone hears the word of God preached and it strikes a chord in their minds or heart.

Jesus corrected that the blessing is not on the mother, or any other family member, nor on the preacher (I’m speaking here of preachers, not Jesus), but the blessing is on the person who hears AND obeys the word of God (emphasis mine).

A Personal Note

To end on a personal side note, It is a special gift to pastors, who are anything like me, to receive reports from our parishioners that they have …

1. heard the word of God through our sermon, and
2. have put the word of God into action, and
3. have received the blessings from their obedience.

This is will do more to combat pastoral depression and burnout than anything else a congregation can do.